Turn Up the Heat: A Couples Guide to Sexual Intimacy – Dr. Kevin Leman (Marriage)

What can I say? I’ve always been a fan of Dr. Leman’s books, whether they’re about Birth Order, marriage, family relationships, women & perfectionism, or sex. I find his writing style to be very casual, personal (he uses himself and his own life & marriage for a lot of anecdotes), and approachable, and always peppered with humor. He’s the kind of self-help writer that you feel you know once you’ve read one of his books… like if you saw him in the street tomorrow, you could walk up and just say “Hey, Dr. Leman! How’s Sande? Did you have a good time on your annual family trip?” etc.

So, once again, he’s written a ‘sex book’, comparable (but still different) to Sheet Music, which I read last year. While I think I preferred Sheet Music over this one, he had a lot of good content inside this volume that I think would be very helpful to many. It’s mostly presented in a Q&A format, based around popular questions he gets during marriage seminars and regular marriage counseling practice, so it was interesting to read about the common issues and concerns couples have… because really, there’s a reason why they’re common concerns!

All around, a well-written and well-presented volume (as usual) from a psychologist who, all things considered, writes his books (and presents himself) more like an easy-going friend than anything else.

Rating: 3.5 coffees out of 5

Tags: books, marriage

Scoop - Rene Gutteridge (General Fiction)

A fun & slightly wacky novel about the people at a TV news station, and the crazy goings-on behind the scenes as the sacred “Sweeps Week” approaches. Gutteridge develops a cast of characters that seem truer to life than you might expect: the overworked & high-strung producer, the young but inexperienced male news anchor, the older female news anchor who is clinging to her job with everything she has, the devout (but attractive!) Christian female who talks about God like he’s her best friend, and the reporter with a conscience… but wait, there’s more!

There are literally enough characters to fill a TV station, but it all makes sense because everyone has their place. The ‘major drama’ of the novel is well handled, but I think the problem itself takes a bit of a backdrop to the people – in a good way.

It wasn’t a spectacular novel, but different, well written, and pretty entertaining. I sat down and read it in one shot, so that has to say something!

Rating: 3 coffees out of 5

The Bookshop – Penelope Fitzgerald (Literary Fiction)

What an interesting, albeit brief, little tale! Thoroughly British in nature, and packed with odd, quirky characters, this is the story of a woman who decides to open up a bookshop in her very small town. For whatever reason, many of the residents are hostile to the idea, and the book centers around her struggles to keep the shop open and profitable whilst fending off certain community members who would wish to close her down.

I can honestly say I was a bit disappointed in the ending… mostly because I wanted the story to continue, as I felt it wasn’t entirely finished. But, I suppose that was Fitzgerald’s intent, and as a result, the whole of the book makes for an interesting little read that is easily devoured over a few cups of tea on a lazy afternoon.

Rating: 3 coffees out of 5

Tags: books, bookshop

I am perpetually making plans.

• I have a plan to write X number of words per week.

• I have a plan to submit X number of articles/queries per month.

• I have a plan to complete X number of Masters’ courses per year.

• I have a plan to wake up at this time or that time every day.

• I have a plan to make this or that a priority, “for real” this time.

Then I scrap all the plans and start again. Whoever said “those who fail to plan, plan to fail”, well… they obviously never met me!

Inevitably, my plans fail over and over again. It’s this bizarre cycle that I can’t seem to break. Every time I make a new set of plans, I feel like I’m getting a fresh start. Another chance to ‘get it right’, and how could it go wrong with such a perfect plan?

I’m still trying to figure that one out. Trying to figure out how to hit that sweet spot where motivation is accessible, and how to cover over that inevitable, often comfortable, pit of despair that we writers fall into.

What about you? Do you make plans & are you able to carry them off consistently? What keeps you on the right track?

Tags: motivation, planning

Lady of Milkweed Manor – Julie Klassen (Historical Fiction)

This is definitely not my usual kind of ‘historical fiction’… regency ladies in their poufy dresses, ‘proper’ speech & mannerisms, etc… but there I was at the bookstore spending the church budget on new books for the library, and the woman ringing me up at the till saw that I had this book & the author’s next one in the stack, and promptly began gushing about them. She was so enthusiastic about this author that I found myself saying “well, I guess I’ll have to try them” and agreeing to come back and let her know what I thought. Well, since that’s the only Christian bookstore in town, and I still have more cash in the library budget, I figured it would be awfully hard to avoid her… and I just knew I’d feel guilty if she asked me what I thought and I had to admit I wasn’t really interested in reading the books after all. Especially when she was so excited about them… so, when I got home, I picked up Lady of Milkweed Manor and began reading… and read some more… and kept reading… and finally had to go to bed. The next morning, I… uh… didn’t start work until I’d sat down and finished reading the book. Oops.

“Huh,” I thought, “Guess it was worth my time after all…” And so, I’ve placed the second book on the TBR list. I won’t say a whole lot more about it – I don’t want to give the plot away, but if you’re interested, there are several good reviews on LT that give a bit more detail. I was glad I read it without knowing anything about the plot, probably since I might not have bothered otherwise. It was a pleasant surprise, and very well written for a first novel.

And I’ll admit it… I was actually bawling my eyes out near the end (and I think mumbling “no, no, NO!” as I read), when the author made me think something was going to happen/had happened that actually didn’t. My goodness… skillfully done. Recommended, even to those who don’t usually like this kind of regency-style historical fiction. Guess I learned a little something about my literary tastes with this one!

Rating: 4 coffees out of 5

Tags: books, historical fiction

Yesterday, I was catching up on my Google reader feed, and happened to come across a post written a few days ago by Susan at Notes from Innisfree. To my surprise, I was one of her chosen recipients of the ‘Superior Scribbler Award’, a sort of “blog-style chain letter award” that’s been going around lately.

The blog award rules are as follows:

Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.

Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.

Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to this post, which explains The Award.

Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!

Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

Thank you Susan!!! I’m honored… especially when I’m such a new face (is that the right way of putting it?) on the blog scene. Not that I’m new to blogging, I’ve been doing this for awhile… but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to connect with other bloggers on a regular basis. Heck, I only set up an RSS reader a few weeks ago (the horrors! I know!). Pretty bizarre for someone who spends the majority of their day on the computer, isn’t it?

And so, I come to what should be my next step with The Award, passing it on to others. Okay, let’s see… nope, she already has it… how about… oh, she already has it too… maybe… nope… oh, crud. Looks like nearly everyone I follow already has this award?!? What does this say about my blog reading choices? Lol. Like I said, I’m new to this game…

Ah hah! I’ve found a few that I’d like to pass this on to.

• Amy Jane @ Untangling Tales. Amy Jane blogs about writing, books, life, and the stories she’s working on. Her posts are calm, fluid, and engaging.
• Kari @ Imperfect Clarity: Perceptions of a Wannabe Writer. Kari blogs about writing, posts interviews with authors, and has the occasional contest! Her posts are honest and entertaining.
• thekoolaidmom @ In the Shadow of Mt. TBR. Book reviews, funny posts & videos, and the occasional giveaway! Lots of extras at this blog make it a fun place to be.
• Susan @ Susan’s Multiply website/blog. Susan is a wonderful, warm woman who I met on Librarything.com. She posts her reading lists, thoughts on life, and anything else that strikes her fancy. She also has some beautiful photographs of her home, cats, and places around Romania!

And those are my choices! Hope you enjoy reading these blogs, and thanks again to Susan for bestowing the honor on me & my little corner of the Interweb.

Tags: Links, scribbler award

Nine Ways God Always Speaks – Mark Herringshaw & Jennifer Schuchmann (Christian Living)

This was an ER book from LibraryThing, and I admit I was a bit skeptical when it came. I sometimes enjoy reading somewhat-fluffy Christian non-fiction (let’s face it – there’s a lot of it out there, and the majority is crap), but I wasn’t sure what to expect from these authors. Tyndale Publishers is usually fairly trustworthy, however, so I plunged ahead.

You may read from other reviewers that it was too ‘trite’, ‘scripturally unsound’, ‘juvenile’, and so forth. Alright, I see where that comes from. The language of the book was not academic, and the authors frequently took stories from Scripture and tried to re-tell them in modern words (ie. the angel coming to Mary). Now, I understand that some people might take issue with the authors trying to get their point across by saying Mary ‘heard voices’ instead of emphasizing the angel… but I think what they were trying to do is give the perspective of someone who might have heard Mary trying to explain why she was pregnant and unwed. I don’t doubt plenty of people thought she was crazy and hearing voices. Make sense? Some anecdotes like this were perhaps not expanded upon enough to get back to the original sense of the text, but I can see where the authors were coming from.

That said, this was clearly not intended to be an academic text. The ‘juvenile’ tone (or, I might say, friendly and contemporary) of the book indicates that it is aiming to appeal to the everyday person who wonders if they’re hearing God, or if God can really speak to someone today. This isn’t a book for pastors, or professors, or theologians, or even Bible college students. This is a book for the average individual who has genuine questions about God’s voice. So, of course the authors aren’t going to take a ‘higher tone’ with their writing. Of course they’re going to ‘dumb it down’ a bit, because the point is in the core message of the text: God speaks, and here are some different ways he’s done so throughout history.

The majority of the book is anecdotal, using stories from history, Scripture, the authors’ own experiences, and the experiences of others that they’ve heard on speaking tours/at conferences/through emails to them/etc. Then they expand on how God spoke in that story. And you know what? I really appreciated that the authors didn’t discount any method, in the sense that God can use any situation to His advantage to get His point across.

Yes, the book was written for hoi polloi. But that’s just it: God can speak to anyone, at any time, for any reason… and that’s a message that the everyday individual – perhaps more than a pastor, or a teacher – needs to hear.

Rating: 3 coffees out of 5

Tags: books, Christian Living

Lately, I’ve been thinking about what it means to take more risks with my writing. I feel that I need to branch out, dive deep, and search the inner recesses of my psyche… I want to create stories that have purpose, writing that has meaning, ideas that comb the murky depths and make my readers gasp in horror, awe, delight, and disblief. I want readers to think, “how could she write something like that?” while being compelled to turn the next page.

We’ve all read books like that. Those are the stories that we read and wonder how an author could put those words on the page without crumbling into a million pieces, or without falling prey to the dark void. The plot twists are unimaginable, the villains are truly evil, and the situations, setting, and action are all reflective of a realistic, very human, very harsh, very scrutinous look at the world.

I am a pessimist by nature. For years, I looked out at the world with darkened eyes, seeing little that brought me true joy. This should have enabled me to create those riskier concepts that could have propelled my work forward, but at the time, I wasn’t ready to take my writing seriously. Many changes over the past few years, while not re-wiring my brain to negate the pessimistic outlook, have caused me to look at things differently. It takes work, but I try to see the good in people, places, situations, and circumstances.

Unfortunately, this has affected my creativity. How do I revert to that darker, riskier way of looking at the world? How can I make conflict real, how can I make my villains real, without it? I need to take more risks with my writing, but I don’t know how.

I found an article about risk-taking in writing by Judy Reeve, posted on her website, and I encourage you to head over there and read the whole thing (along with plenty more useful articles on the writing process!). For now, I want to share a few paragraphs that really spoke to what I’m trying to figure out for myself:

“If you’re not willing to take risks, chances are your writing will be bland, shallow and boring. Even to yourself.

So, what does it mean, taking risks in your writing?

This is where you move out of safe, familiar territory, into something that feels a little dangerous. Risk-taking differs from individual to individual, so it’s difficult to say exactly what “taking risks” means. One writer’s risk is another’s walk in the woods. And another writer’s walk in the woods feels damned risky to a third.

Following are some of the ways it might feel when you are taking risks in your writing: Maybe your hands tremble and your handwriting gets a little out of control. Maybe while you’re writing, your breathing becomes shallow. Or you stop breathing completely. Sometimes you can tell when you’re taking risks because this is where the censor will step in: “Hey, you can’t write that.” Or the critic: “That’s certainly not a nice thing to write.” Or the editor: “You might want to be a little less specific there, maybe use words that aren’t quite so… well, graphic.” Hearing these voices can almost guarantee you’re working in risky territory.

You may stop writing what you’re working on, or it may deviate off into some safer territory, meaningless details or worse, generalities. You may feel restless and want something – a cup of coffee, a cigarette (and you don’t even smoke), something to eat, anything to alter the direction of the writing and the way you feel.

Taking risks means telling the truth, whatever your truth is.”

How do you take risks in your daily writing? How do you find the strength to “tell the truth”, and how does it make you feel during the process?

Tags: risks, villains, writing

My deepest, humblest apologies to those of you who have stopped by my blog, taken precious time out of your day to read & comment on posts, and then found that your comment never showed up, even several days later.

It turns out that ALL comments since November have been rerouted into the spam folder, for no logical reason that I can currently comprehend. I’m doing my best to figure out and fix the problem, but until then, I promise to spend at least 15 minutes per day sorting through the spam comments and finding YOURS, and approving them to post. I found a number of them today, and have replied to as many as I could.

Again, I apologize. I had no idea this was happening, and I didn’t catch it until today. I really am very grateful for all your visits and comments, and I hope that this won’t deter you from coming back in the future. I’ll do everything I possibly can to approve all comments at the end of each day (at least)… and hopefully get the filter fixed in the meantime!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Tags: comments, spam

Wesley the Owl – Stacey O’Brien (Nature/Science)

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Several people told me this book was amazing, and I’d even read about it months before that and thought it looked interesting, but nothing, and I do mean nothing, prepared me for how much I would learn and be awed by in this book. Every single page taught me some other incredible thing about barn owls (which I promptly shared with whoever was closest to me – I think my husband is sick of barn owl stories at this point, hah!), and although I don’t entirely buy all of O’Brien’s philosophical speculation in the final chapters, by the end of this book (and Wesley’s life – and that’s not a spoiler, because all animal books have this at the end) I was bawling like a baby: Out of emotional attachment to the owl I’d just read about, out of a deep sense of loss for the author who’d spent 19 years with this remarkable creature, and out of a sense of amazement and wonder toward one of this earth’s creatures that I would have otherwise simply taken for granted.

I strongly believe that many people have lost their sense of connection with animals and nature, and take these things for granted. There is an intelligence and personality in so many animals that we interact with or see from afar, on a daily basis, and we think nothing of their presence in our lives. The story of Wesley the owl, and how he learned – interacted – changed – developed – LOVED – and connected with the world around him is truly stunning. You will never look at birds, owls in particular, the same way again, and I hope that this book will help others reconnect with that childlike sense of amazement of the natural world around us.

Rating: 5 coffees out of 5

Exploring the Old Testament – Volume 1: A Guide to the Pentateuch – Gordon Wenham (Biblical Studies/History)

I had to read this for a course I was taking on the Pentateuch, and for once… it was actually quite an enjoyable textbook! Wenham breaks down the various aspects of each book in the Pentateuch without dwelling on minute details that bog down so many other commentaries & explorations of these first five books. He also included comparative historical detail, with reference to outside ancient literary works, and also made mention of archaeological controversies over various elements found within the text. All in all, an excellent guide to the Pentateuch for someone looking to do an overview of these five important and influential ancient scriptures.

Rating: 3.5 coffees out of 5

Tags: 5 coffees, animals, books